


After

by queenseamoose



Series: Star-Blessed [3]
Category: Elder Scrolls, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-04
Updated: 2016-05-04
Packaged: 2018-06-06 07:38:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6745264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queenseamoose/pseuds/queenseamoose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt: Things you said too quietly</p>
<p>On the night before the Dawnguard’s assault on Castle Volkihar, Mina is faced with a rare opportunity to confess her feelings</p>
            </blockquote>





	After

Of all the enemies she’d faced and defeated in her lifetime, a single vampire lord hardly seemed enough to warrant a case of the nerves. Nor was she ever one to suffer from insomnia, yet Mina found herself plagued by restlessness as she struggled to find sleep. She turned over to one side, then back again, punching the wadded-up cloak she’d been using as a pillow and letting out a growl of frustration.

“Can’t sleep either, Dreth?” Serana’s voice floated across the camp, distracting her from her thoughts, and she smiled in spite of herself.

“‘Either,’ hmm?” She wondered if her thrashing about had awoken her, and felt a brief flash of guilt. When she was met with silence, she feared that was the case, but when Serana finally spoke, her voice was surprisingly earnest.

“Dreth, this is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.”

“Mina,” she said without thinking.

“Hmm?” Serana seemed startled, and Mina rolled her eyes. Propping herself up on an elbow, she called back to her through the darkness.

“Serana, we’ve been trekking around this Nine-forsaken wasteland together for how long now? You _can_ call me by my first name, you know.”

There was a pause, followed by a low chuckle. “To be quite honest, I always thought you might kill me yourself if I did,” she said wryly. “But…” She heaved a long sigh. “I guess it finally sank in that tomorrow I’ll be facing my father. And he’ll probably die. By my hand, possibly.” She fell quiet. “My father will deserve whatever fate comes to him, but he _is_ still my father. What if I can’t do it?”

Mina’s heartbeat quickened, her stomach turning over on itself as the cause of her unrest finally fell into place. “You can’t think about that,” she snapped, the word spilling out harsher than she intended. “Don’t think of him as your father—think of him as the damn menace that he is, and just remember everything he’s done to you. You don’t owe him _anything_.”

“I suppose you’re right.” Serana’s voice sounded muffled, and Mina winced. Sitting upright, she called out to her again, softer this time.

“Are you sure you’re ready for this?” When there was no reply, she pressed further. “You don’t _have_ to face him, you know. The Dawnguard’s prepared, and no one would care if you needed to stay behind.”

“No!” Serana’s outraged reply stunned her. “I know what my father’s capable of. I would  _never_ leave you to face him alone.”

Despite herself, Mina’s pulse flared, her breath quickening. _You?_ Meaning the Dawnguard as a whole, or…

Before she could read too much into it, Serana spoke again. “I want it to be over,” she said, finality ringing in her tone. “I have to see it through. I just…need to focus on after.”

Lying back down again, Mina tucked an arm behind her head. “What _will_ you do after, anyhow?” she asked. Even from across the camp, she heard Serana’s long sigh.

“Settle down, I suppose,” she said wearily. “Perhaps the Dawnguard will have some use for me. I’d like to think I’ve earned Isran’s trust by now. Maybe someday I’ll be able to say the same for the rest.” She heaved another sigh. “Or if not, I suppose I can always find someplace remote to set up a lab and continue my mother’s work.  I…” She hesitated. “I want a _life_. I want to wake up in my own bed in a place I can call my own. I want to be able to actually make real progress in my work without having to pack it all up within a day or two. I…” She broke off abruptly, clearing her throat. “I’m sure this all sounds so silly to you. I’m sorry, I got a bit carried away.”

“To me?” Mina frowned into the darkness, as something inside her twisted.

“Yes? Well…” Serana paused, the surprise in her tone unmistakable. “You, ah—with all your travels. Your adventures. And the places you’ve been to?” She laughed, but it was strained and nervous. “You’ve…never seemed too interested in settling down.”

Mina lay in silence, a cold weight settling over her chest. “I could, though,” she said finally, her voice barely more than a whisper. “I did once before. I could do it again. For the right reason. Or…the right person.”

There was no reply, but the wind had picked up, and she had no way of knowing if Serana had fallen asleep, or if she’d even heard her in the first place. It didn’t ease the ill feeling in her stomach, however, and she lay staring up at the roof of her tent for what seemed like hours, until she finally drifted off into a long-awaited sleep.


End file.
